History Lies
by Jetainia
Summary: History has a way of reducing facts to mere legends and turning mere legends into facts.


**Forum Block  
**Stacked With: MC4A (ToS; BAON; FPC; SF; SS; SoW; T3; Shipping War); Hogwarts; Houses  
Individual Challenges: Short Jog; Click Bait It; Yellow Ribbon; Yellow Ribbon Redux; Founders Four (Y); Olden Times (Y)  
Representations: Helga Hufflepuff; Mediator Helga; Helga gets migraines; Founders family  
Bonus Challenges: Spinning Plates; Second Verse (Found Family; Nontraditional; Not a Lamp; Persistence Still); Fire Song; Tomorrow's Shade; Chorus (Bee Haven); Demo (Most Human Bean; Casper's House; Hot Apple; Creature Feature; Forked Path; Some Beach; Mermaid)  
Tertiary Bonus Challenges: Thimble  
House: Hufflepuff  
Year: 2 (Stand-in)  
Category: 4 (Prompts)  
Prompt: Character walking away from a bad situation  
Word count: 1,990 per Google Docs  
Note: This is an AU where Helga is the one who leaves, not Salazar

* * *

"Professor, I was wondering if you could tell us about the Chamber of Secrets."

The classroom fell silent after Hermione spoke. The whole school had been eager for any information on the famed chamber now that it was said to be open again. Both copies of Hogwarts: A History had been checked out of the library, leaving students to find other sources of information.

Professor Binns halted in his droning lecture and stared at Hermione in shock—having never been interrupted before. He huffed with indignation. "Such a place is simple myth, dear girl. I deal with facts."

Hermione didn't give up. "Myths always have a basis in fact though, don't they?"

Staring around at the classroom, Binns noticed that he had the attention of all of his students for the first time in years. He sighed and abandoned his lecture on the Goblin Rebellion of 1612. "Yes, well, the Chamber of Secrets. You all know that Hogwarts was founded by Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Salazar Slytherin, and Helga Hufflepuff. These four lived in harmony for several years, but when Hufflepuff mysteriously left the castle, Slytherin retreated to a hidden place within the castle that was given the moniker of the Chamber of Secrets.

"There is a legend that has no doubt been scrambled by time, that there is an unknown horror living in that same place. It has been said that one day the horror would be unleashed upon the school and purge all those Slytherin considered unworthy. Considering there is also a tale of Hufflepuff owning both the horror and the Chamber before Slytherin, the unreliability of such things is almost certain."

A hand rose, the owner speaking before they were acknowledged. "Professor, what exactly is the thing in the Chamber?"

"A fanciful tale," Professor Binns snapped. "It does not exist."

* * *

Her head pounded in time to her steps as she moved down the stone staircase. Up above, she could still hear the slight echoes of loud voices as the two stubborn men argued. This was not what she had in mind when she had banded together with Rowena, Godric, and Salazar to create a safe haven to practice magic and share their knowledge.

With a soft sigh, she stopped and placed her forehead on the cool stone of the wall next to her. Too many times had she had to come here to get away from the headache-inducing fights. She loved the both of them, and knew they wished her no ill will, but they could not find it in within themselves to stop arguing the other's principles.

Her hand came up and pressed the small rune etched into the stone and a doorway opened. After she slipped inside it closed, cutting her off from the noise of Hogwarts and bringing blessed relief. She trailed her fingers along the wall, letting the silence and cool air slowly drown out the pounding of her head.

Helga went straight to the fireplace when she arrived at the inner sanctum of her hideaway. A flick of her fingers had flames crackling and she filled a small pot with water before hanging it above the fire. Then she moved back to the small stream that had been directed to flow along a wall of the room and dipped her head into it.

The cold was a shock to her system but further negated the pain in her head. She surfaced with a gasp and wiped the excess water off her face before moving to sit in the plush armchair in front of the fireplace. There were herbs hanging above her and, as she flicked a finger up at them, the scents of lavender, basil, rosemary, and meadowsweet floated down to her—relaxing her even more.

Something had to give soon, she knew. She couldn't continue the cycle of retreating to her hideaway and ridding herself of the ache in her head only to return to the situation that had given it to her in the first place. She had tried many times to mediate between the two men but was every time unsuccessful. After the argument was completed, both Godric and Salazar approached her individually to apologise for their actions and she always accepted their apologies. But no matter how many times they apologised or swore they would try harder to remain silent and amiable, they always returned to their previous behaviour.

It was seemingly impossible to stop them. A simple conversation on any topic would inevitably lead to an argument that would quickly spiral out of control. Rowena always vanished into her tower at the slightest hint of an argument, leaving Helga to deal with it. Helga sighed again as the water in the pot let her know it was ready and she had to lever herself out of the chair. A herbal blend of her own creation was tossed into a mug and boiling water poured over it. The infusion was the final ingredient of her remedy for a pounding head.

Her thoughts circled as she sipped at the tea and let the scents of the herbs relax her. There was no good solution. All four of them loved the castle they had built and the school they had created with all of their beings. It would be beyond cruel to force someone to leave for her own peace, and the children needed both Godric and Salazar.

And yet, Helga couldn't continue as she was. She adored their home just as much as the other three, but it had become full of pain to her. The only place she could be free of it was the chamber she had carved out underneath the castle and claimed as her own. Only she could activate the rune that opened the door—it was linked to her blood and magic, and hers alone.

But perhaps it was time to find another sanctuary. One that was not located within the maelstrom that caused her such pain and necessitated a sanctuary in the first place. She thought of Rowena and the walks they took through the nearby forest to see beyond the stone walls of the castle. She thought of Godric and their almost feverish work to discover more spells and rituals they could use.

Helga thought of Salazar. The one she loved above all others who sat with her in peaceful silence as the sun dipped below the horizon and stars shone above. The one who had helped her nurse an injured basilisk back to health and helped calm the snake down with his gift of snake-tongue. Salazar who looked at her like she hung the very moon in the sky.

She set her cup to the side and stared at the fire, knowing what she must do and hating it. With slow steps, Helga moved from the inner sanctum to the outer chamber. It was the underbelly of the castle above, a great hollow area where she could release her frustrations without fear of harming others.

A sad smile crossed her face as she raised her wand. She would have no use for this place soon, but she knew someone who would. With each flick and swish of her hand and wand, the cavern changed from a barren space and became full of large snake statues. This was her gift to Salazar; a place he could go to get away from Godric with no fear of being discovered.

The stream that ran through the inner sanctum was diverted yet again to also run through the antechamber, creating the soft sound of moving water that echoed around the walls. She pulled down parts of the ceiling and formed them into hooks for herbs to dangle from, ready for when Salazar needed their calming properties.

When she was done, it was no longer a space for her to lash out at uncaring stone and earth. It was a place where Salazar could rest—though Helga had left space for when the magic bubbled too close to his skin and had to be released. She lowered her wand and gazed around at the space. It was no longer hers.

She swivelled around and marched back to the inner sanctum. With a wave of her wand, she enlarged the inside of a sack and quickly directed all her belongings into it. The glow of the fire bathed the room in a feeling of happiness, caressing the furniture's warm hues. Helga felt tears come to her eyes as she looked around at the room that was now almost devoid of her possessions.

It had been her sanctuary for so long and now she was giving it away. With a flick of a finger, the fire went out and Helga shouldered the sack before trudging back out the way she came. Her steps echoed strangely around the newly decorated chamber. She did not look back, but merely walked past the archway that led to the antechamber and created a door there. No one but Salazar and those he guided would be able to get into her sanctuary this way.

She slapped her hand on the small, unnoticeable rune and opened her secondary entrance. It exited near Salazar's laboratory and she knew he would not be there currently. With hurried but silent steps, Helga slipped into the room and dropped her sack by the door. Then she quickly created another entrance, one that would belong to Salazar alone.

Fetching a quill, ink, and some parchment, Helga wrote out a note for Salazar, explaining what she had done. It grew harder to see as she wrote, the tears welling in her eyes obscuring her vision. Finally, she was done and she set the note in a place Salazar would see it before picking up the sack once again and moving through the quiet halls of Hogwarts.

Night had fallen as Helga prepared and she saw no one as she went. She stopped at the large doors that led outside. Was this really her choice? Was this what she had to do for herself and her friends? She glanced back, almost giving in to the desire to stay. But she couldn't. Her head couldn't take much more, and neither could her heart. With a deep breath, she slipped outside.

As she made her way through the forest that bordered the castle, she heard the slithering sound that signalled the presence of a snake. With a soft sigh, she stopped moving and looked down at her side. Aurora was there, looking up at her with deadly eyes shielded behind the special eyelid all basilisks could choose to deploy to prevent unwanted deaths. Helga crumbled to the ground and Aurora wound her way around the witches' body.

"I must go," Helga whispered to the snake and herself. "Perhaps without me stopping them, they can finally get past their arguing and see eye to eye. I do not wish it, but… Look after him, Aurora. He will need you more than I."

With that, she carefully extricated herself from the basilisk's grasp, kissed her scaly head, and continued walking. She would try to find a thestral and hope one of them would agree to bear her through the night to somewhere far from her home.

* * *

Salazar swayed forward as a hand slapped him on the back. Godric came up next to him and stared out at the grounds, knowing what his friend was looking for. The day they had discovered Helga missing had changed them all. For a while it had seemed as though Salazar had also vanished, though he had turned up eventually and said he had been in a chamber below the castle.

Ever since then, the two men had tried desperately to stop arguing with a high rate of success—each of them hoping that maybe if they managed that, Helga would somehow know and return to them. Now, every evening, they held silent vigil and waited for a slight figure to appear on the horizon.


End file.
